KSR Today: Getting ready for UK's Senior Day, March Madness, and more

Good morning, friends. Today, I have 1,500 words for you on a Monday morning, which, coincidentally, matches the milligrams of caffeine I’ve downed to produce such a long rundown of news for you during this first week of March Madness. These are busy times for basketball fans as the women begin postseason play this week and the men wrap up the regular season.

There are other matters to discuss, too, like conference play around the corner in baseball and softball. So, I’ll shut up with this pointless introduction and get right to the things you need to know. Have a great Monday, wherever you are.

Kentucky WBB lost its regular season finale at South Carolina

Kentucky Women’s Basketball put up a fight against almighty South Carolina in Columbia on Sunday, but the Gamecocks pulled away late to win a share of the SEC’s regular season title. Kenny Brooks‘s Wildcats never led the No. 6 team but pulled within two points in the fourth quarter before coming up short in the end, losing 78-66 in the regular season finale.

Clara Strack had another big game. She scored a team-high 23 points with eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. Georgia Amoore added 16 points, going 8-for-19 from the field, plus double-figure scoring from Teonni Key (12) and Dazia Lawrence (10). Kentucky got only three points from its bench, to 32 bench points by South Carolina.

The 2025 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket is set

With an 11-5 conference record, Kentucky earned a double-bye and the No. 4 seed in the 2025 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. The conference tournament’s first round begins on Wednesday. However, Kentucky does not play until Friday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 5 Oklahoma, #12 Georgia, or #13 Arkansas.

A win on Friday will likely set up a rematch with South Carolina, which earned the No. 1 seed via a coin toss, in the semifinal round on Saturday.

Wednesday is still in play for Kentucky in the Men’s SEC Tournament scenarios

Kentucky needs to beat LSU at home tomorrow night to stay in the mix for a bye in the Men’s SEC Tournament. Currently, Kentucky is in a three-way tie in eighth place with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt at 8-8; however, depending on how the next week shakes out, a 10-seed is still on the table if Kentucky goes 1-1 in its last two games. The Wildcats will drop to tenth if Mississippi State and Vandy go 2-0 and Texas A&M beats Auburn or LSU.

Conversely, Kentucky can climb to a No. 6 seed if it can beat LSU and Mizzou and get help from around the conference (Mizzou, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt go 1-1, and Ole Miss 0-2). There are still too many scenarios and possibilities to list now, with a week left in the season. The picture will get much clearer after the midweek games. Right now, the odds point to an 8-seed for the Cats, playing the South Carolina/Mississippi State winner in the first Thursday game.

Listen to the last Mark Pope Show of the regular season

Before Kentucky determines its SEC Tournament fate this week, Mark Pope will preview the final two games with a new call-in show Monday night. Pope and Tom Leach will be on the radio airwaves from 6-7 p.m. tonight with updates on Kentucky since Saturday’s loss and the loss of Jaxson Robinson for the season. We’ll share all that he has to say with you here on KSR if you’re unable to listen live.

Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams preview Senior Day

Before Pope’s hourlong chat with Tom Leach and their listeners, Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams will preview Kentucky’s game against LSU with a Monday press conference in Lexington. Almonor and Williams will also reflect on their brief time in Lexington before playing their final home games tomorrow night. We’ll let you know all that they have to say.

Kentucky will celebrate seven seniors tomorrow night

Before Kentucky hosts LSU, the largest senior class in the program’s history will be celebrated with a Senior Night ceremony before tip-off. Rupp Arena will say goodbye to seven Wildcats–Almonor, Williams, Andrew Carr, Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Koby Brea, and Jaxson Robinson–before the home finale against LSU, a 7 p.m. start on ESPN2.

The Wildcats are No. 15 in the NET rankings, TBD in the AP Top 25

We’ll soon see how Kentucky’s 16-point loss to No. 1 Auburn affected its AP ranking. The Wildcats are ranked seventeenth before a slight fall in the Top 25 is expected later today.

The good news is Kentucky is still No. 15 in the NET, projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Road To Rupp: Regional tournaments start tomorrow night

The Road To Rupp has Monday off before several boys’ regional tournaments around Kentucky begin tomorrow night. This year’s favorite to win it all, Saint Xavier, hosts Central on Tuesday, plus eleven other games across the 6th, 7th, and 11th regions.

Atherton	at Ballard	7th Region
Berea	at Bryan Station	11th Region
Central	at St. Xavier	7th Region
Christian Academy-Louisville	at Trinity (Louisville)	7th Region
DuPont Manual	at Male	7th Region
Fairdale	at Jeffersontown	6th Region
Fern Creek	at Butler	6th Region
Frederick Douglass	at Madison Central	11th Region
Lexington Christian	at Great Crossing	11th Region
North Bullitt	at Pleasure Ridge Park	6th Region
Western	at Moore	6th Region
Western Hills	at Lexington Catholic	11th Region

Kentucky Baseball swept Hofstra, hosts EKU tomorrow night

No. 23 Kentucky Baseball moved to 9-1 in 2025 with its sweep of Hofstra in Lexington. The Wildcats won Sunday’s game, 9-1, to extend its win streak to eight games. Sophomore Ethan Hindle powered Sunday’s win with his first career Big Blue Bomb, a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the fourth.

GRAND SLAM, ETHAN HIDLE (@EHindle_27)!!! The first HR of his career.

B4 | UK 7, Hofstra 1

📺https://t.co/WFVrSNYB4b pic.twitter.com/NaYQ2eVaey

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 2, 2025

Lefty Ethan Walker, a junior, pitched 4.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits, walking two and striking out four. Senior RHP Scott Rouse threw 5.0 innings of shutout baseball in relief to earn the win. Rouse struck out seven batters with no walks.

Tomorrow night, Kentucky Proud Park heads to Richmond for the first of two games against Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky will host EKU on Wednesday before a weekend series against Wofford in Lexington. It’s the second five-game week for the Wildcats and the last before SEC play begins at Georgia.

Kentucky Softball won four straight at WKU’s Spring Fling, the last of the pre-conference games

Last Friday, Kentucky Softball dropped its first of five games in WKU’s Spring Fling weekend tournament, losing to Evansville. The Wildcats bounced back from the 7-5 loss to win the next four games in Bowling Green, including Sunday’s victory over Evansville in the rematch. Kentucky avenged its Friday loss by run-ruling the Purple Aces, 8-0, to finish the tournament with a 4-1 record. Sarah Haendiges struck out 11 Evansville batters in her complete-game win. The win was the 700th career win for head coach Rachel Lawson.

The WKU tournament wrapped up pre-conference play for Kentucky. Next, John Cropp Stadium will host the SEC season and home opener against Missouri, with a three-game series this Friday through Sunday.

Eli Cox turned heads at the NFL Combine with one of the best scores ever

Kentucky Football had a couple of NFL Scouting Combine standouts in Maxwell Hairston and Eli Cox. On Sunday, the latter raised his stock with one of the highest Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) for a center in 38 years. Cox’s 9.97 out of 10.00 was the third-highest mark out of 622 offensive centers going back to 1987.

Eli Cox is a OC prospect in the 2025 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.97 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 3 out of 622 OC from 1987 to 2025.

Splits projected, times unofficial.https://t.co/sB9cJuLYsX pic.twitter.com/8yWhQS0uL0

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 2, 2025

Cox’s former teammate, Hairston, was the fastest man at the combine, running a 4.29 in the 40-yard dash on Friday. Hairston now projects to be a first-round pick out of Kentucky.

Listen to KSR at 10 a.m.

Tune in at 10 a.m. for a new KSR as the show picks up the pieces from Kentucky’s loss to Auburn over the weekend and the bad news that came with it. You can find KSR at KSBar and Grille tomorrow through Thursday this week, and then Friday’s show will broadcast from Cornbread Hemp.